Display-frame.



H. R. GRANT.

DISPLAY FRAME.

APPLrcATaon FILED SEPT. H. 1915.

fjizylo @fa/n HARLO R. GRANT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DISPLAY-FRAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

Application filed September 11, 1916. Serial No. 119,387.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, I-IanLo R. GRANT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Display-Frames, (Case 1,) of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and eXact description, refer? ence being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to display frames and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved hinged construction for pivotally supporting three or more display frames from a vertical supportsuch, for example, as a wall. In devices of this class employed in the past it has been the custom to provide two or more hinges for each pair of display frames, the hinges being secured to the rear edges of the frames, one near the top thereof and the other near the bottom. When three frames were used four hinges were employed, two hinge members serving to connect two of the frames together and the other two hinge members serving to connect the third frame member with one of the first mentioned frame members. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a single hinge member which may be substituted for the many hinges employed in the prior art. l.Vith this object in view I provide a hinge having as many leaves as there are frames in the display device, veach leaf being arranged to besecured to one of the frames. The several leaves vare pivotally mounted or connected one with the other so as to produce a single unitary structure. The multi-leaf hinge therefore serves to pivotally connect the display frames with one another, and to pivotally mount the entire device consisting of the several frames upon a vertical support I provide a downwardly extending hook attached to and forming an integral part of the central leaf of the hinge member. This hook is arranged to extend through an aperture carried by a supporting iron in turn attached to the wall, the hook being arranged to have rotary movement in the aperture to provide a pivotal connection between the display device and the wall.

A further abject ofthe invention is to provide means for preventing unauthorized removal of the articles from the display frame. To accomplish this object I provide associated with the sealing means, which, as will arranged to receive a locking rod. This locking rod is so arranged that it cannot be removed by the fingers but which requires the application of a certain key to eHect its removal or movement to a position where it releases the sealing strip. These and other objects of my invention will be more clearly brought out in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the de.- vice of my invention mounted upon a wall;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of one of the hinge members employed to pivotally connect the several frame members to each other;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the top strip and the front strip of one of the display frames illustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the sealing strip and an eye carried thereby arranged to cooperate with the locking rod;

Fig. 5 is a yperspective view of the U shaped supporting iron for rotatably mounting the several display frames upon a wall;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of one of the display frames, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the key employed to unlock the sealing strip.

Similar characters ef similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring first to Fig. 1, 8, 9 and 10 illustrate three display frames, each frame consisting of a bottom strip 11, the two side strips 12 and 13, and the top strip 14. The strips 1'1, 12 and 13 are grooved at 15 on their inner sides as illustrated in Figs. A3 and 6. The top strip 11 of each display frame consists of the two members 16 and 17 spaced from each other as illustrated in Fig. 3, to provide the intervening s ace 18. Fitting in the space 18 and in the grooves 15 of the strips 1l, 12 and 13 are the two glass plates 19 and 20, between which are disposed the articles to be displayed, such as the drawings or charts 21 and 22. As most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 the glass plates and drawings 19, 20, 21 and 22 are arranged to be inserted into and removed from the display frame through the opening 18 provided in the top strip 14, the opening 18 serving as the .only means which permits reference refer to in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

' cessible for such tampering.

, the frame.

the insertion into and removal from the frame, of the glass plates and articles to be displayed.

'o prevent dust and dirt from entering the space between the two glass plates 19' and 20 I provide the sealing strip 23 illustrated in Fig. 4, which strip contains along its lower edge a portion 24 having a cross section less than the cross section of the upper portion of said strip. rlhe members 16 and 17 are recessed at 25 .to snugly fit the sealing strip 23, the strip being shown A handle 2G may be providedon the upper face of the strip 23 topermit its removal from the frame. i

To lock the sealing strip 23 to the frame to prevent unauthorized removal of the frame contents the strip 23 carries a number of downwardly extending eyes 27 arranged when the strip is in position on the frame to receive a locking rod 28. This rod 28 is movable into and out of the frame through a collar 29 carried by the front strip 13. The rear end of the rod 28 is externally threaded at 30 to coperate with an internally threaded collar or nut 31 carried by the rear strip 12. wWhen the rod is in the position illustrated in Fig. 6 or in a locking position the front end thereof is positioned inside of the front edge of the frame, thereby preventingv turning of the rod with the fingers, since the rod is not ac-A To permit the removal of the rod 2S from the frame to release the strip 23, the front end of the rod is flattened at 3Q to coperate with a corresponding notch 32 provided in the key 34. It will thus be seen that by applying the key to the rod and by turning the key in a counterclockwise direction the rod may be released from the nut 31 and removed from 'To guide the rod 28 into the nut 31 the nut may contain the guiding cam surface 33 and the rod the tapered end 2S.

yI" ig. 2 illustrates one of the hinge members for pivotally connecting the several frames S, 9 and 10 with each other, there being two of these hinge members employed on the rear edges ofthe' frames, one at the point illustrated by the reference character 35 and the other at the location illustrated by the reference character 36; Each one of the hinge members 37 consists of a plurality of leaves, one for each display frame. When three frames are employed as illustrated in Fig. 1 the hingecontains the three leaves 3 8, 39 and 40, which are pivotally connected together as shown at 41 and 42. The leaf 40 is attached by means of screws as shown to the frame S, the leaf 39 with the frame 9 and leaf 38 with the frame 10. Attached to and forming part of the central leaf of each of the hinge members is a downwardly extending hook 43, the hook of one hinge member extending downwardly through the aperture 44 provided in the U shaped supporting iron 45, and the hook of therother hinge memberextending downwardly through the aperture 46 provided in the lower leg of the U shaped member 45. Any means may be employed for attaching the supporting member 45 to a wall such, for example, as the apertures 47, arranged to receive screws or the like. lt will thus be seen from the description given that the several display frames are pivotallysupported'from the wall and are pivotally attached to each other, may be moved to any position to bring .a particular article to the view observer. c

W hat I claim is:

l. In a display device the combination of a plurality of display frames, a pair of hinge memberssecured to the back of said frames, each hinge member comprising the same number of leaves as there are display frames hingedupon each other`I being attached to one of the display frames, a downwardly extending hook carried by the central leaf of each hinge member and a U shaped support adapted to be attached to a wall and having in its U arms,aper tures to receive the said downwardly extending liooks for pivotally supporting the display frames .on the U support.

2. A display device consisting of a frame mounted on a vertical pivot and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane comprisinga bottom strip and two side strips, provided with internal grooves to receive glass and articles to be displayed, a top stripcomso that the frames each leaf posed of two members spaced from each other to permit the insertion and removal of glass and `articles to be displayed into and from the display frame, a sealing strip adapted 'to tit into the space between the said members to seal the articles from dust, and means for locking thesealing strip to the frame, said means comprising a plurality of inwardly vextending'eyes carried by the sealing strip, a nut carried by the rear side of the frame and a threaded rod movable through the front side of the frame through the said eyes and threading into the said nut. l

3. A display device consisting of a frame mounted on. a vertical pivot and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane comprising a bottom strip and two side strips, provided with internal'groovesvto receive glass and articles to be displayed. a top strip composed of two members spaced from each other to permit the insertion and removal of glass and articles to be displayed into andfrom the display frame, a sealing strip adapted to fit into the space between the said inemilo bers to seal the articlesA from dust, and means said means comprising a plurality of inwardly extending eyes carried by the sealing strip, a nut carried by the rear side ot' the frame and a threaded rod movable through the front side of the frame through the said eyes and threading into the said nut, the front end 0i' said rod when moved to locking position assuming a position inside of the vfront edge of the frame and being provided With means arranged to coperate with a key to facilitate turning of the rod, whereby the rod may be detached from the nut and removed from the eyes carried by the sealing strip.

4. In a display device the combination of three or more display frames, a pair of hinge members, secured to the back of said frames, each hinge member comprising the same number of leaves as there are display frames hinged upon each other, each leaf being attached to one of the display frames, and means consisting of a laterally and downwardly extending hook coperating with a support for pivotally supporting the central leatl of each hinge member from a vertical support.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 14 day of August, A. D. 1916.

. HARLO R. GRANT. Witnesses:

ALBIN C. AHLBERG, MARY A. (1001i.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

